Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania on Sunday inaugurated the country's first comprehensive hospital for children providing an array of paediatric specialties.



Affiliated with the King Hussein Medical Centre (KHMC), the hospital provides services in 25 medical specialties and is built on a total area of 43,000 square metres, its director Brigadier General Maen Habashneh told reporters on Sunday.



The 200-bed hospital, constructed at a cost of approximately JD33 million, is fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and staffed by some 450 nurses and 85 doctors.



The facility will provide medical services in different paediatric specialties, such as neurosurgery, organ transplant, and other specialised surgeries, Habashneh added.



The six-floor hospital also houses a fully equipped 60-bed emergency room, according to the director.



“The hospital will not only treat Jordanian children but also provide services to children from Arab countries, and there will be coordination with medical facilities in Arab states to dispatch patients to the hospital,” he added.



The facility, called the Queen Rania Al Abdullah Hospital for Children, will cater to children ranging in age from one day to 16 years of age, the director said.



Medics at the hospital said there will be coordination with other hospitals in the US and the UK for consultations and cooperation.



Also yesterday, during a meeting at the KHMC, King Abdullah instructed concerned entities to cooperate in implementing a project to increase the centre's capacity to 2,000 beds.



KHMC Director Major General Abdul Latif Wreikat briefed Their Majesties on the JD333 million project to develop and rehabilitate the centre.



It is envisioned that the plan will be implemented over three stages. It seeks to add 1,330 beds to the KHMC in addition to improving the overall quality of medical services offered by the centre, which receives about 1.1 million patients annually.



The first phase of the project (2011-2013) will add 500 beds; another 500 beds will be added during the second phase, scheduled for implementation between 2013 and 2015. Another 330 beds will be added in the third phase from 2015 to 2018.



According to National Resources Investment and Development Corporation (Mawared) Director General Akram Abu Hamdan, work is under way to complete the project design.



At the meeting, Wreikat also reviewed plans to expand state-run hospitals and medical facilities across the Kingdom's governorates, saying the newly inaugurated children's hospital will be a “model at the regional level”.



King Abdullah's visit to the KHMC coincided with the 11th anniversary of the passing away of the late King Hussein, upon whose directives the army-run medical estate was founded in 1973. February 7 also marks the day King Abdullah assumed his constitutional powers.



During a ceremony organised by the Royal Medical Services to mark the 10th anniversary last year, King Abdullah announced a campaign to renovate and develop the KHMC.



“We will contact our friends and the friends of the late King Hussein and all concerned entities across the world to secure the required funding for this project,” the King said at the time.